The next step for Cal in its development under Mark Madsen will be to consistently put together complete performances. The Bears have looked like two different teams in the same game so many times this season.
Wednesday's matchup on the road against Colorado was another one of those instances. Down by 16 late in the first half, Cal had to climb back from the deficit over the final 20 minutes.
Even with 47 points in the second half, the early offensive struggles proved to be too much for Madsen's team to overcome in an 88-78 loss to the Buffaloes at CU Events Center.
Two early 3-pointers from Jalen Celestine would be a signal of what was to come for the Bears Wednesday night in Boulder. Only 1 point early in the game came on something other than a 3-pointer for Cal (13-16, 9-9 Pac-12).
The Bears' first five baskets all came from beyond the arc. It kept Cal afloat, but the lack of success in every other area on offense allowed the Buffaloes (19-9, 10-7) to build their advantage.
Eventually, Colorado led from the 16:41 mark of the first half until the final buzzer as Cal simply couldn't get over the early hurdle after allowing the home team to go on a 10-0 run pushing the deficit from four points to 14.
"We took way too many 3s in the first half," Madsen said in his postgame radio interview. "I think we took 19 3s, we made six. I told the guys at halftime, I said, 'Listen guys, we're on pace to shoot 40 or 50 3s, we gotta get in the paint.'
"So, I kinda challenged them. They did a phenomenal job in the second half attacking the rim. We just came out and were a little bit shell shocked at first."
The Bears were more aggressive on the offensive end in the second half following the lead of their star, Jaylon Tyson. The junior wing scored 18 of his 25 points over the final 20 minutes helping the Bears shrink the lead to single digits (5) at one point.
He hit two 3-pointers in the second half as the Bears finished with nine makes from deep on 31 attempts in the game.
Tyson's ability to impact the game continued to shine Wednesday as he finished with a team-high four assists to go with five rebounds in the loss. It is the 17th game this season in which Tyson has scored at least 20 points.
In all, Cal had four players players finish in double figures with Keonte Kennedy (13), Fardaws Aimaq (11) and Jalen Celestine (11) all joining Tyson. However, it wasn't enough as the Bears had issues slowing down the tandem of KJ Simpson and Tristan da Silva on the other side.
The two Colorado stars combined for 49 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists. While it was da Silva's 18 points that gave Cal fits in the first half, Simpson's 18-point performance in the second ended up as the back breaker for the Bears.
The junior guard ended up with a game-high 27 points.
Colorado also had four players in double figures as J'Vonne Hadley (13) and Eddie Lampkin (12) contributed in a big way offensively as well. Lampkin also led the Buffaloes with eight rebounds.
Aimaq registered a game-high 11 rebounds to log his 19th double-double of the season though he committed five turnovers as well.
Madsen's group will look to regroup and split its final road trip of the season when the Bears head to Salt Lake City to face Utah Saturday evening. Wednesday's loss means Cal cannot finish the regular season over .500 with just two games remaining on the schedule ahead of the Pac-12 Tournament.
